Feed mechanism for stapling machines



Sept. 7, 1943. oBsTFELD E-r AL A 2,328,839

FEED MECHANISM FO STAPLING MCHINES` Original Filed May 24, 1938 L 'JOHN H. FANCHER ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 7, 1943 FEED MECHANISM FOR STAPLING MACHINES Lou Obstfeld, Brooklyn, N. Y., and John Il.

l Fancher, Chatham, N. J.; said Faucher assignor to Abraham Obstield, New York, N. Y.

original application May 24, 193s, serial No.

Divided and this application Novem- `ber 18, 1940, Serial No. 366,090

Claims. (Cl. 1-49) This invention relates to stapling machines, and the primary object of the invention is to generally improve the same.

Such machines usually have a staple core with a spring-pressed staple pusher slidable thereon. In rear-loading machines the staple pusher is removable. After the staple clip has been slid into the rear end of the magazine, it is necessary to replace the staple pusher. This is carried at the end of a rod on which it is slidable and which also carries the feed spring. One object of our invention is to facilitate replacement of the staple pusher, while handling the same by means of the pusher rod, and this object is fulfilled by establishing a non-rotatable relation between the pusher and pusher rod. A further and more specific object is to accomplish this while using a pusher rod made of round material, this being the most economical. Inasmuch as the non-rotatable relationship need only be established when the pusher assembly is removed from the stapling machine, at which time the pusher spring moves the staple pusher to the end of the rod, the olesired'result may be 'obtained by deforming a round rod at its forward end, the mating aperture being made large enough, however, to receive the main body of the round rod in order not to interfere with slidable movement of the pusher relative to the rod.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear, our'invention consists in the stapling machine elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specication is accompanied by a drawing in which:

Fig; 1 is a. perspective view of a complete stapling machine embodying features of our invention; Fig. 2 is a section taken in elevation through the machine;l n

The present application is a division of our copending parent application Serial Number 209,- 682, filed May 24, 1938. Figs. l, 2 and 6 are the same as Figures 1, 2 and 6 of the parent application; Figs. 3, 4 and 5 reproduce the pertinent portions of Figures 3, 4 and 5 of the parent application; and Fig. 7 corresponds to Figure 1'7 of the parent application.

Referringto the drawing, and more particularly to Fig. 1, the stapling machine is of the plier type, and comprises an upper handle I2, and a lower handle I4 (the lines I5 beingv merely ornamental). It further comprises a stapling arm not visible in Fig. 1, but shown in Fig. 2, this arm .being generally designated I6. In Fig. l the machine is at rest, and only the forward tip 22,

.and the rearmost end of a staple feed ro-d 56 forming a part ofthe stapling arm assembly are visible, the stapling armIB as a whole being substantially enclosed and protectively housed within the handles I2 and I4. The stapling arm carries most of the mechanism of the machine.

The handles are made of relatively heavy gauge sheet metal, the upper handle I2 having deep, downwardly bent sides, and the lower handle having deep, upwardly bent sides. The sides of handle I4 are spaced apart an amount equal to Fig. 31s a horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, but with the upper restoring spring removed; v

Fig. 41s a transverse section taken in the plane of the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectiontaken in the plane of the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a section taken in elevation through the forward en d of the stapling arm, and shows some of the details of the staple pusher to enlarged scale; and

Fig. '7 is a perspective view showing the construction of the staple pusher. v

or slightly less than the internal spacing of the sides of handle I2, or in other words, the lower handle is slidably received within, the upper handle with the sides overlapping, as is shown in the drawing. The lower handle I4 and stapling arm I6 are pivotally connected by a pin 26, (Fig. 2), while the upper handle I2 and stapling arm I6 are pivotally connected by a pin 28.

In general, the function of the upper lhandle I2 is to carry a stapling anvil 24 and to move the same upwardly during the stapling operation, while the function of the lower handle is to first move the stapling arm downwardly relative to the anvil until it bears a-gainst the material to be stapled, and to thereafter move the driving blade downwardly relative to the stapling arm in order to drive a staple through the material and against the anvil.

The three main parts, that is, the upper handle I2, the lower handle I4, and the stapling arm I5, are normally held in their spread vor at-rest position (shown in Fig. 2) -by restoring springs preferably consisting of reversely bent pieces of spring metal. Restoring spring 30 is housed in from channel 32 and passing through a mating hole 3| in the lower part of the spring. Restoring spring 34 is housed within lower handle |4 and is disposed between the bottom of the lower handle and the top wall 36 of a staple core 38 forming a part of the stapling arm I6. The spring 34 is held in position by a locating bump 46 struck downwardly from the top wall 36 of the staple core, and bearing against the mating, downwardly turned end 48 ofthe spring. The other end 50 of the spring is also rounded to facilitate sliding of the spring relative to the handle during operation of the machine.

The staples l (Fig. 2) are urged toward the staple driving blade 84 by means of a suitable pusher |44 acted on by a feed spring 64. The feed spring is coiled about a pusher rod 56, and the upstandlng ears |50 and |52 of the staple pusher are slidable on rod 56. The rod is held in position, that is, the spring 64 is held under compression, by a hook 60 formed at the rear end of the rod. To reload the machine, the pusher rod 56 is unhooked and removed from the machine together with the stample pusher |44. After placing a, new supply of staples in the machine, the' staple pusher |44 is replaced, it being handled by means of the rear part 58 of pusher rod 56. This operation is facilitated by our use of a nonrotatable relation between the pusher and the pusher rod, as will be described later in greater detail.

The upper end of spring 30 is rounded at 52, while the lower end is curved upwardly at 54 to fulll the additional function of holding the pusher rod 56 anchored in position. More speciflcally, the hook 60 is received in a hole 62 in the spacer channel 32. If the stapling machine is accidentally droppedl on the floor, the hook 60 may escape from the hole. Inthe present machine the end 54 of restoring spring 30 is curved upwardly in such a manner as to bear rearwardly and downwardly against the downturned or hooked end 60 of the staple pusher rod, thus holding the same anchored in `proper position.

The stapling arm consists of two relatively-extensive side plates 66. These side plates are conlnected by the staple core l38V and also by the spacer channel 32, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawing. The staple core 38 consists of a piece of sheet metal bent to form a top wall 36 and side walls 68 (Fig. 5) dimensioned to just receive the staple '|0 therearound. The lower edges of side walls 68 are displaced outwardly somewhat as shown at 12, and the parts l2 are secured to thelower edges of the side plates 66 by spot-welding. The sideward displacement of the lower edges 12 of the staple y core is made slightly greater thanthe thickness of the staple legs, thus forming a suitable space between the side walls 6 6 to receive the outside of the staples.

rectangular strip of appropriately hardened steel. It is apertured to receive the forward end 82 (Fig. 2) of the arm which actuates the blade.

The staples are moved along the staple core by staple pusher |44, the construction of which is most clearly shown in Fig. '7. The staple pusher consists of a piece of sheet metal bent to form a top wall and depending side walls |46. These are dimensioned to correspond in section to the size of the staples 10, the pusher sliding on the core 36 immediately behind the staples.

The staple pusher is slidably carried on the pusher rod 56l previously referred to. and '7 it will be seen that bearing ears |50 and |52 for the pusher rod are bent upwardly at the ends of a strip of metal |54 which is secured to the top of the pusher, as by welding. It will also be seen that ear |50 has a' round bearing hole, while ear |52 has a. more complex non-circular hole consisting of a round hole with a slot extending thereacross.

Referring now to Figs. 2, 5 and 6, it will be seen that the forward end of pusher rod 56 is flattened at |56. The end of the rod is upset at |56 in order to hold the pusher on the rod despite the action of the feed spring 64. The forward end of the feed spring bears against the The spacer channel 32 consists of a strip of spacing therebetween being accurately deter-l mined to properly receive the staples 10, as will be clear from Fig. 5 of the drawing.

The staple driving blade 84 consists of a simple ear |50, while the rear end of the feed spring bears against a pair of projections |60 (Fig. 2) which are formed by pinching the rod at the top and bottom. We prefer to use a pair of projections in order to obtain a symmetrical stop for the end of the spring. When the pusher and pusher rod are removed from the machine, the feed spring holds the pusher at the forward end of the rod, and at this time the flattened part |56 of the pusher rod is received in the noncircular slot in ear,|52, thus preventing relative rotation of the pusher and pusher rod. This facilitates the insertion of the pusher into the staple magazine, for a fixed relation is determined between the pusher and the reversely bent part 58 of the pusher rod, thelatter being held in the hand while guiding the pusher at the other end of the rod into the magazine.

To load the machine, a staple stick is laid upon a saddle or guide member |62, which is an easy matter because the member |62 is not surrounded by the staple magazine. The staple clip is pushed into the staple magazine, it being guided by themember |62. The staple pusher is then replaced behind the staple stick, as previously described. It will be appreciated that any aid to reloading the machine is particularly desirable in the present case because the staple magazine is substantially fully enclosed and housed within the overlapping handles I2 and i4.

In operation, the material to be stapled is placed in the jaw of the machine and the handles are squeezed together. The upper spring 30 is lighter and yields first, and the stapling arm and anvil move together until the material is compressed therebetween. During this preliminary movement, the lower handle and the stapling arm move as a unit and are prevented from relative movement by the heavy restoring spring 34. Further pressure of the handles causes a movement of the lower handle relative Ito the stapling arm (for no further compression of spring 30 can take place), and the resulting upward movement of the lower handle is accompanied by a downward movement of arm 82 which in turn forces the staple driving blade 84 downwardly, thus driving the endmost staple In Figs. 6

through the material and against the anvil clinching slots. The machine may be operated repeatedly until the last staplehas been used, and may then be reloaded in a rapid and expeditious manner.

Itis believed that the advantage of our invention will be understod from the foregoing detailed description. The non-circular-iit between the pusher rod and staple pusher is convenient when loading the machine, for usually the' pusher assembly is laid on the table while the staple clip is being loaded into the machine, and at this time the .rod may turn with respect to the pusher, thus making it dii-cult or at least annoying when attempting to replace the pusher into the magazine, because the parts must be lined up properly and aimed correctly. In accordance with the present invention, the pusher is non-rotatable on the rod. For this purpose, a non-circular rod may be used. However, with the specific structure illustrated, the pusher is locked in proper position on the rod when removed from the machine, and at the same time the economy of using a pusher rod made of simple round wire stock, is retained.

It will therefore be apparent that while we have shown and described our invention in a preferred form, many changes and modications may be made in the structure disclosed, without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as sought to be defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A staple pusher assembly for use in a rearloading stapling machine, said vassembly comprising a pusher rod made of round wire, a staple pusher slidable thereon, a staple feed spring coiled about said pusher rod between the rear end of the rod and the pusher, the forward portion of the rod being deformed to non-circular section, the pusher having a mating non-circular aperture to prevent relative rotation of the pusher land rod when the pusher assembly is removed from the machine, said aperture -being large enough to also slidably receive the round rod in order not to interfere with slidable movement of the pusher on the rod.

2. A staple pusher assembly for use in a rear# loading stapling machine, said assembly comprising a pusher rod made of round wire, a staple pusher slidable thereon, said pusher having spaced ears thereabove with apertures for receiving the rod, a staple feed spring, the forward portion of the rod being deformed to non-circular section, the forward ear of the pusher having a mating non-circular aperture to prevent relative rotation of the pusher and rod when the pusher assembly is removed from the machine, and the rear ear having a circular aperture to slidably receive the roundrod, the aperture in the forward ear being large enough to also slidably receive the round rod in order not to interfere with slidable movement of the pusher on the rod.

3. A staple pusher assembly for use in a rearloading stapling machine, said assembly comprising a pusher rod made of round wire, a staple pusher slidable thereon, said pusher having spaced ears thereabove with apertures for receiving the rod, a staple feed spring coiled about said pusher rod between the rear end of the rod and the pusher, the rear end of the rod being bent reversely and inwardly to form a handle and hook for hooking the rod in the stapling machine, the forward tip of the rod being enlarged to prevent escape of the pusher from the rod, the forward portion of the rod behind said tip being, deformed to non-circular section, the

4forward ear of the pusher having a. mating noncircular aperture to prevent relative rotation of the pusher Aand rod when the pusher assembly is removed from the machine, and the rear ear having a circular aperture to slidably receive the round rod, the aperture in the forward ear being large enough to slidably receive the round rod in order not to interfere with slidable movement of the pusher on the rod.

4. A stapling machine comprising a staple core, a staple pusher slidable on said core, a round rod slidably connected to said pusher, a pusher spring surrounding said rod and urging the pusher forwardly, means to holld said rod in said machine, and means to prevent relative rotation of the pusher and rod when the pusher is in endmost position, said means including a flattened portion at t-he end of the rod and an aperture in the pusher dmensioned for receiving either the round or the flattened portion of the rod.

5. A staple pusher assembly for use in a rearloading stapling machine, said assembly comprising a pusher rod made of round wire, a staple pusher slidable thereon, a, staple feed spring, the forward portion of the rod being deformed to non-circular section, the pusher having a mating non-circular aperture to prevent relative rotation of the pusher and rod when the pusher assembly is removed from the machine, said aperture being large enough to also slidably receive the round rod in order not to interfere with slidable movement of the pusher on the rod.

LOU OBSTFELD. JOHN H. FANCHER. 

